Children of the Nile

[Adagio]

Ah yeah, that was how that game looked... and yes, I agree, Pharao looked much better that CotN...

[pg]

i never understood why games like this go 3d unless they are releasing on console. i imagine going to 3d just cut their customer base in half. didn't the old pharoah used to run on p133 and up?

[Adagio]

Yes it did...

[Juggler]

Pharaoh was a good game but it took forever to build those huge pyramids
hopefully this will improve

[child of Thor]

Just to say that the game is being delayed for its release in europe, looks like feb now. Still its out in the US so anyone got it yet and whats it playing like?

[Adagio]

I read an review (on gamespy I believe) that the game didn't live up to their expectations. Among the things they complained about was the fact that buildings (and roads) don't have any influence in the game at all, which means you can build the city without the use of roads at all. And objects to make the city more beautiful (like flowers etc) makes no difference either (and these are free btw), which would probably make a lot of people ignoring these things, to save space for other more usefull things...

Doesn't sound promising at all

[child of Thor]

well yes, some of the reviews so far haven't been really hype-tastic. Still i've read some other bits of info at another site, from one of the team who made it, and i've decided to not judge it too quickly. It partly sounds like peole were trying to play it like Pharoh and that was part of what caused frustrations? well i wont know untill feb when i can have a look myself, but here is what the guy was saying:

Jeff Fiske

CotN is not Pharaoh II. If you want to play your old school city builders, then replay Pharaoh, or try Anno.

I debated starting a new thread in this forum rather than respond directly to Allen's article. My thread would have touched on how you hear, "Nobody does innovative titles, Games are all the same these days" etc. But then when someone does do a new thing, people apply the same filters and rule sets to them and ‘don’t get them’. In some cases the joy of these games are brought to light, and in others they fall to the fans who run around like zealots trying to tell the world what a great game was just missed.

I have spoken to many people who have played the game, outside of TM & the Beta testers, and I hear from them that the game is fun and mesmerizing. Even Allen says he was having fun. Heck, he even says, “I can safely say that no game ever made gives the feeling of controlling a living city filled with flesh-and-blood citizens as well as CotN�. The fact is, in making a real place that puts you in a consistent role as Pharaoh means that 90% of what made CB's work in the past can't be used. I don't know about you, but in real life I have never experienced the radius effect of a hospital, nor have I been allowed to walk into a market and take whatever I desire, simply because a store has it.

You are not supposed to worry about what is in each home. You are Pharaoh. You want your tomb built before you die! You don't care if a laborer does not have a pot. Once you ‘let go’ of old city building habits and embrace the role of Pharaoh and get a little selfish, the game takes on a whole new feel and something shifts in your mind.

A few things missed in this "Review"
World level- (This is a whole new dimension of play that allows you to make strategic decisions about Egypt that affect how you play your city. It is the 'Civilization' aspect of the game.)
A ‘Grand Campaign’ with three unique paths for replayability.
Stand alone scenarios, some of which use triggers to change the way the game works for a brand new experience.
The editor is in there is well, so people can create more scenarios or campaigns.

Sorry to make this my first post in what has got to be one of the best forums on the 'net. I feel kind of lame jumping in with my first post to defend our title in the face of a review. I have been a lurker here for so long that I already know you will continue to look for more reviews on the game, including from users who have played it. In fact maybe I did not even need to make this post- but for obvious reasons, I could not resist.

If you do pick it up. Do yourself a favor. Forget everything you knew about how city builders work. Play the tutorials. They are fun and they show you how to play the game. This is an immersive experience or journey, and the sooner you forget your bad habits from old city builders the faster you will start having fun. In the ten years in the industry, this is only the second game I have worked on where employees still are playing it after release - I have confidence that this review will be an anomaly.

There are other bits of info in the forums of the gamesite itself. I dont know - ok the reviews aren't glowing, but maybe its just one of those games that needs a bit of time to grow on you?

Hopefuly some of the guys here can spill some beans

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by child of Thor
Just to say that the game is being delayed for its release in europe, looks like feb now. Still its out in the US so anyone got it yet and whats it playing like?

Sucks when that happens. Makes it impossible to resist downloading a game you want.

[Adagio]

But I still don't like the fact that buildings has no influence at all... and that all eye-candy can be built whenever the player wants, you don't have to work your way (read: get money or whatever) to get it

It did have something interesting in it, that could have made the game great, but what I mentioned would kinda kill the game for me

[Adagio]

And to be hornest, it even kill the game that bad so I'm not even interested in downloading the game... and for games of this type is very unlikely for me to not even "try" it

[Joseph]

I have the game and its OK.

[vovan]

Woah, man, ADG, what happened to your english?

As far as the game is concerned, I'd say you gotta play it. It's different from anything you've tried before, and once you "get" it, it's very addictive. I was part of the beta, and I'll say: in the beginning there was quite an outcry by the people bashing the game. The developers took a lot of suggestions and tweaked the game a lot. But still, I think it's not the most newcomer-friendly game of all. Or actually, the most newcomer friendly, maybe. The people that have trouble with how the game works are mostly those that can't open up their mind to radically different game mechanics, and keep trying to play it like Pharaoh, or SimCity. Well, if you do, you fail, and the experience sucks. But as soon as you forget everything you've played before, and trust the tutorials to tell you what to do, and actually do it, man... You'll be playing 22 hours a day.

[Adagio]

Originally posted by vovan
Woah, man, ADG, what happened to your english?

I was a bit too sleepy I guess

[child of Thor]

Originally posted by Adagio
But I still don't like the fact that buildings has no influence at all... and that all eye-candy can be built whenever the player wants, you don't have to work your way (read: get money or whatever) to get it

It did have something interesting in it, that could have made the game great, but what I mentioned would kinda kill the game for me

Well whats happend is that what used to be beautification tiles you would plaster around the streets in pharoh to increase as area's desirability have become free. The thinking being that its something the people would do themselves if they were generaly happy with life - you know whistle happily and plant some nice flowers and do some weeding.
So instead of paying for them directly from the Pharoh's treasury it can instead be seen that people are happy with you as Pharoh.
Now you can build monuments that DO have a cost and an effect, statues etc after a succesful battle etc.

It does sound that CotN has taken a completely different approach to the genre, i've spent a few days going through the forums and it does sound like they have tried to do some improvements to how a 'city builder' functions. Its sounds more like a 'society builder' really, and time will tell if people like the change.

ADG, i'd go do some big reading over at their forums - there are people who definatly dont get the changes that have been made, but also people who think its one of the deepest games they've played.

Us Europeans are just going to have to be patient until feb to try it out. I've been promising myself an up to date pc for around a year now, just havent seen a reason to buy one yet. But for me this game sounds like it has the potential to make me go for it



@Joseph, care to tell us a bit more? I guess it may be too soon to really get a grip on it - people have been saying that it is one of those games that grows on you as you put the hours in, how you finding it?

[Joseph]

Originally posted by child of Thor


Well, what's happened is that what used to be beautification tiles you would plaster around the streets in pharaoh to increase as area's desirability have become free. The thinking being that its something the people would do themselves if they were generally happy with life -- you know whistle happily and plant some nice flowers and do some weeding.
So instead of paying for them directly from the Pharaohs' treasury it can instead be seen that people are happy with you as Pharaoh.
Now you can build monuments that DO have a cost and an effect, statues, etc., after a successful battle etc.

It does sound that CotN has taken a completely different approach to the genre, I've spent a few days going through the forums and it does sound like they have tried to do some improvements to how a 'city builder' functions. Its sounds more like a 'society builder' really, and time will tell if people like the change.

ADG, I'd go do some big reading over at their forums -- there are people who defiantly don't get the changes that have been made, but also people who think its one of the deepest games they've played.

Us Europeans are just going to have to be patient until Feb to try it out. I've been promising myself an up to date PC for around a year now, just haven't seen a reason to buy one yet. But for me this game sounds like it has the potential to make me go for it



@Joseph, care to tell us a bit more? I guess it may be too soon to really get a grip on it -- people have been saying that it is one of those games that grows on you as you put the hours in, how you finding it?

You find out real quick that this game is not Pharaoh. In this game you can put clay pit next to a temple it will be OK.
However you must build a Priest's home somewhat close to a Temple, Shrine, Apothecary, Hospital, Mortuary, & School, because the Priest runs all six of them.

Let's start the game. First thing to build is the Palace. You need the Palace to build farms, and a Palace allows you to build 6 farms. After the farms have produced the first harvest, you then build 4 common shops next to, or close to the farms, for the farmer and his family can go shopping. You can direct each shop to sell a difference item or let the shop decide.

Now you can build Townhouse.
When you are starting out, just build one or two Townhouse. A Townhouse will support 4 more farms and later will support up to 8 farms or more. My TH just support 8 at the moment. After the Upper Class moves in to a Townhouse you can build a servant's house for each Townhouse. Then you build 6 Luxury Shops near the Townhouses, so the upper class can shop.
Actually in the game, after you build the Palace, you can build anything you want, however the people will not move in until they need the building. Also you DO NOT NEED MONEY TO BUILD, just time and bricks so each item built support each other.
Most of the building require bricks in order to build, so you will have to have a few Brickwork's and a Bricklayer home so you can build the building that required bricks.
The Bricklayer home should be next to the BrickMaker home, so he does not have walk that far. Also the BrickMaker home should be close to the River and Papyrus grove so he does not have to walk that far.
In this game, the medical and temples need to be close to but not next door to both the Farmer and the Upper Class Townhouses.
There is a World Map also, but you will need Envoys to explore and in most cases you will need food and or other item to give to a new city or trader.
In this game the people do shop, and you can follow them as they shop.
So far the only building that should be next door is the Courthouse to the Palace, because Court can only be held by Pharaoh or his family and he will not go across town to hold it.

Some of you will remember SimCity 3 when it was announced 6 or 7 years ago. However after working on it for over 2 years Maxis could not get it right and had to start over and gave us SimCity 2.5 and call it 3 with better Graphics and a flew bonus. Well, CofN is that game, where the people decide what is happening in the game and not some building next another building.
Of couse some building should be located so that the Priest and Scribes can serve all of them and the people can go to church or to a medical facility.
But you can build the Palace next to a farm and a Temple next to a Bricklayer house and it is OK.